Seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus infection among pregnant women at Omdurman Maternity Hospital,Sudan.

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) among pregnant women at Omdurman Maternity Hospital between the period January 2009 and June 2009. Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Omdurman Maternity Hospital; blood was taken from pregnant women that came for delivery and investigated for cytomegalovirus specific immunoglobin G (IgG) and immunoglobin M (IgM) antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Demographic and clinical data were collected by questionnaire after a written consent. A total of 200 pregnant women were included in this study. The ages of all women tested ranged from 18 to 43 years. Out of the 200 pregnant women tested, 195 (97.5%) and 12 (6.0%) were CMV IgG and CMV IgM positive, respectively. The age was associated with CMV IgM and history of miscarriage was significantly associated with CMV IgG positive women, while parity, congenital abnormalities, educational level, and occupation were not significantly (P > 0.05) associated with CMV infection.   Key words: Seroprevalence, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), pregnant women, Sudan.